Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Trump is Bad, But Does That Warrant Comparisons to Hitler?

The recent controversy over Donald Trump's war of words with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the Muslim parents of a fallen soldier who served in Iraq have stirred tremendous controversy, and they have received almost universal condemnation from prominent political figures from both major parties. The Democrats, of course, are no surprise. But John McCain outright blasted his party's presidential nominee, and reminded anyone who would listen that he does not speak for all Republicans. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell condemned Trump's words without ever mentioning him by name, but have so far refused to yield to Mr. Khan's suggestion that they need to repudiate their support of Donald Trump in the presidential race.

Trump in an inflammatory figure, but does that really justify comparisons to Hitler, who is generally seen as the most evil tyrant in world history?

According to the article below, yes, it is very reasonable to make comparisons to Hitler.

Really?

I mean, Trump is an irresponsible jackass who, frankly, it is hard to take seriously. And yes, I understand all of those people who remind everyone that Hitler himself was not taken seriously. But let's be real here, for a minute: Hitler and Trump are very different.

Shall I got down the list?

First of all, Hitler was not born into vast wealth, like Donald Trump was. Hitler was actually, quite literally, a starving artist in Vienna well before he became the Fuhrer of Germany. Trump is a spoiled brat who never had to struggle, or wonder where his next meal was from. Hitler was a spell-binding speaker, and he had legendary confidence, going as far as waiting one full minute in full silence, and leaving his audience hanging on the edge of their seats, before he would speak. He would start off relatively normally, before building up to a crescendo, building up to the climax that would cause his audience to erupt. Anyone who has seen footage of Hitler speaking will have to acknowledge that he was a master of words, of expressing himself. This is not a minor point. In fact, it was his legendary speaking abilities that people often cite as one of the main reasons that he was able to whip up an entire country into a frenzy. Donald Trump often interrupts his own sentences, and I know of nobody who feels that he is this great, captivating speaker. Hitler built his own military even before gaining power, and he was jailed for having attempted a coup d'etat. In fact, it was during his time in jail that he wrote Mein Kampf, and in that book, he outright suggested not only restoring power to Germany and making it great again, but he said that Germany should take over land to the east, particularly in Russia, for what he called "Lebensraum," which meant living space for Germans. Trump has proposed building a wall reinforcing America's border with Mexico, and has never made any suggestions one way or the other with Canada. Hitler may have been an outcast, but he had his own political party, and they absolutely worshiped him. They would often trip over themselves to show their allegiance to their leader. Trump never started his own party, and many in his own party have made a point of distancing themselves from Trump, and from his many, many controversial statements.

Finally, let us be real about certain things. What Trump proposes to do once in office is, generally speaking, filled with very bad ideas. He has catered to the lowest common denominator time and time again.

However, he has not started wars by invading numerous other countries, as Hitler did. He also did not build death camps and systematically murder 6 million people, as Hitler did. A Trump presidency surely would be bad, and might set this nation behind for years, if not decades. But Hitler, he is not.

Frankly, I have doubts that Congress would let him do anything if he were actually elected, which I still have a hard time believing is anything but a remote possibility. And there is another significant difference between Hitler and Trump. When Hitler got in, through perfectly legal means, he slowly but surely took over the government, and before long, he by and large had the devoted loyalties of a vast majority of his fellow countrymen. At an absolute most extreme case scenario, I can picture him going too far, assuming too much, and basically starting a civil war, and that is, again, the most extreme scenario imaginable. The percentage of minorities and serious, borderline militant opposition to this man and what he stands for is simply too strong to command the kind of loyalties that Hitler received in Germany, where any real opposition to the Fuhrer became illegal.

So, yes, Donald Trump needs to be condemned. Yes, it may very well prove to be a disaster if this man somehow does get elected, although anytime that I start to believe that it is actually a real possibility, he does something that is sure to drop any chance that he might have had to reaching the White House. Frankly, not only is it admittedly hard to perceive this guy as a real threat to take over, but I'm still not entirely convinced that he even really wants to be president, and that he is not almost a plant to ensure a Hillary election. I'm not saying that he is, but given how weak a candidate Hillary is, could any opponents have worked out better for her than Trump?

That, too, marks a huge different between Hitler and Trump. Following his disillusionment after serving for Germany during World War I, Hitler joined the tiny Nazi party, and devoted his entire life towards the goal of becoming leader. Trump almost seemed to join it casually, and you do not get the sense that he will be completely devastated should he lose the general election. He'll still be in the public eye, for sure.

Now, I will admit that perhaps I do not take the Trump threat seriously enough. There have been times when I felt that he had a real chance, but these were few and far between. So difficult is it to take the guy seriously, even after he clinched the Republican nomination, that I still view his whole campaign as basically one big joke. He just does not carry himself all that seriously, and that leads me to the final major difference between Hitler and Trump. Hitler made it clear exactly what he intended to do once he obtained power, which was virtually his lifelong obsession, while Trump continually seems to contradict himself and to change his mind. There are few things that he has been definitive about, although again, he makes sure that, no matter what, he caters to the lowest common denominator.

Ultimately, Donald Trump is not Adolf Hitler, pure and simple. There are obviously major differences and, at the end of the day, I will predict that there will be one more after election day in November, and it is this: Hitler succeeding in becoming the leader of his country, and I'm almost positive that Trump never will succeed in being the leader of his country.